A look at genocide, survival, and physical and cultural continuity through the eyes of three women who have experienced three different genocides of the 20th century. Shot on location in Canada, Poland, Bangladesh and Rwanda, A Woman’s Story features three strong women who are connected by the thread of survival. Each one becomes aware of the story of the other, and by this they become more determined to continue their essential duty. By putting women at the center of the narrative and transcending their victimization, this film highlights their resilience and survival.

USA, 2016, 60’, inglese e italiano con sottotitoli in inglese e italiano| English and Italian with English and Italian subtitles

BlaxploItalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema is a documentary that uncovers the careers of a population of entertainers never heard from before: Black actors in Italian cinema. With modern day interviews and archival footage, the documentary discloses the personal struggles and triumphs that classic Afro-Italian, African-American and Afro-descendant actors faced in the Italian film industry, while mirroring their struggles with those of contemporary actors who are working diligently to find respectable, significant, and non-stereotypical roles, but are often unable to do so.

Germania, 2016, 92’, tedesco e arabo con sottotitoli in inglese e italiano| German and Arabic with English and Italian subtitles

Jakob had his epiphany in the Moroccan mountains where he came across an English language edition of the Quran and converted to Islam. That day changed his relationship with his family, relatives and friends fundamentally. Especially the one with his brother, the director of this very personal film about an alienation. For two years he followed Jakob’s development as the latter quickly radicalised himself and considers himself a Salafist. His attitude became doctrinaire. Believing meant not doubting.

Two men, an aged farmer and his deaf-mute son, live in a remote area, isolated from civilization. Though sharing the same roof, problems, and sorrows, they remain very distant from one another. Their attempts at conversation turn into misunderstanding, if not conflict. The father thinks his son is abnormal and childish. The son sees his father as insensitive and crude. Can the two men find their way towards understanding one another?Trailer

Jérôme Bastion is a correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI) in Turkey. He has lived for 20 years in Istanbul, becoming a reference for the French speaking radio audiences in world. As a voice for civil rights and freedom of speech, Jérôme has witnessed Erdoğan’s Turkey returning into the state of violence and deprivation of freedoms, a situation that reminds him of the status quo when he first arrived in Turkey. Dönüş–Return follows the life of Jérôme in his last weeks in Istanbul, before his distressful decision to leave Turkey after the Turkish general election of November 2015. Dönüş–Return is a character-driven current affairs documentary that deepens the ongoing decline of Erdoğan’s Turkey towards an authoritarian and undemocratic state, where opposition, civil rights and freedom of speech are strongly and violently oppressed.

From Treviso to Riace, passing through Bologna and Padua, the documentary tells the stories and experiences of those who had the courage to try to transform fear into opportunities and utopia into reality. This documentary film is a journey through Italy and Migrants Emergency: amazing models of coexistence, humanity on the move.

They have just arrived in Brussels. Newly arrived immigrants from Syria, Iraq, Morocco have to follow a mandatory integration course in Flanders, called « inburgering ». To obtain their certificate, they will have to learn the habits and customs of Flanders and Belgium. With humor and tenderness, the film follows these characters throughout their journey.

Belgio, 2016, 73’, francese e swahili con sottotitoli in inglese e italiano| French and Swahili with English and Italian subtitles

Under the continual fire of RTMA’s cameras – the largest local television in Kolwezi – Congolese society, avid of its own image, discloses itself, unvarnished and shameless. We follow these journalists, motivated by the desire to inform at all costs. They overcome with courage situations sometimes perilous, sometimes funny and often sad. Their recent and rapid adaptation to TV raises universal questions of independency from sponsors, of ethics facing sensationalism, and of die-hard investigative drive.

Prison Sisters takes us through the journey of two young women who have been released from prison in Afghanistan. Sara’s uncle has planned to kill her in an attempt to save his honour in their small village. Fearing for her life Sara escapes to Sweden, but Najibeh stays behind. While Sara struggles with her newfound freedom, her former prison-mate Najibeh disappears and soon Sara hears that she was stoned to death. Sara and the filmmaker want to find out the truth, only to encounter a maze of half- truths on the streets of Afghanistan. We follow the two main characters, revealing what happened to them – each with an exceptional fate depicting the horrific reality for women in Afghanistan.

Sasha is an eight-year-old boy who lives in Ukraine with his mum and five siblings. Their everyday life is involved in misery, poverty and even further complicated by the current war in the country. Sasha leaves Ukraine in order to live during a summer with a Catalan’ family in Catalunya. What he will find out, who he will meet, how he will be affected and how he will live are questions that will arise all throughout the film.

Ausman, has fought for the Libyan revolution, even been a pacifist, as he was convinced to fight for freedom and democracy. Nothing went as he thought: violence and religious extremism are spreading every day more. Today he feels as a stranger in his country. What will be his final wor(l)d?

Belgio, 2016, 66’, francese con sottotitoli in inglese e italiano|
French with English and Italian subtitles

André Dartevelle, Belgium journalist and director, built up a body of work ‘of opposition’ over the course of 40 years, tirelessly giving a voice to the oppressed. Witnessing world conflicts and with social issues in Belgium, and more generally the work of remembrance, close to his heart, he was to highlight the major social and political struggles of his time. With his accounts and those of his collaborators, he insistently revisits key moments of our contemporary history. With André Dartevelle, Luc Dardenne, Michel Khleifi, Hugues Le Paige, Josy Dubié, Wilbur Leguebe, Emmanuelle Dupuis and Alain Lapiower.

Israele, 2016, 86’, ebraico e inglese con sottotitoli in inglese e italiano|
Hebrew and English with English and Italian subtitles

The two Israeli filmmakers – and brothers – Tomer & Barak Heymann dig deep into manhood, religion, family and sex in this portrait of Saar Maoz, an HIV-positive gay man torn between his “out” life as a member of the London Gay Men’s Chorus and his desire to reconnect with his Orthodox family in Israel. The result is a moving portrait of a man trying to maintain balance as he navigates between two very different worlds.